Frequently asked questions
Short answers on applying, selection tests and the practice here, with links to more.
Applying
When do DClinPsy applications close for 2027 entry?
At 1:00 pm UK time on 18 November 2026. The Clearing House fee is £35.
- Clearing House: Dates to remember. Checked .
- Clearing House: Fees you pay. Updated ; checked .
How much experience do I need?
24 of the 30 courses set a minimum, from 9 to 24 months.
What are the chances of getting on a DClinPsy?
For 2026 entry, 6,236 people applied for 1,133 NHS-funded places, and the Clearing House gives the success rate as 18%. That is an average across all applicants and courses, not your own chance.
- Clearing House: Number of places. Updated ; checked .
What are DClinPsy trainees paid?
On an NHS-funded place you are paid for all three years: you start at the bottom of Agenda for Change Band 6 and move up a step after two years. From 1 April 2026 the bottom of Band 6 is £39,959 a year in England, £40,559 in Wales and £43,231 in Scotland. In and around London a supplement is paid on top.
Sources: NHS Employers, checked ; Welsh Government and Scottish Government, checked .
Selection tests and interviews
Which DClinPsy courses set a reasoning test?
Lancaster University, the University of Manchester and the University of Sheffield name a reasoning test before interview for 2027 entry. The deductive reasoning practice here uses the five styles Lancaster describes.
- Lancaster University: course page. Updated ; checked .
- Clearing House: University of Manchester, selection procedure. Updated ; checked .
- Clearing House: University of Sheffield, selection procedure. Updated ; checked .
Which courses have no test before interview?
Six courses say they set none: King's College London, Newcastle University, University College London, the University of Leeds, the University of Plymouth and the University of Surrey.
For twelve more, neither the course nor the Clearing House names one, so check with the course. The University of Birmingham, the University of Glasgow and the University of Hertfordshire are considering one. We found nothing published either way for Coventry and Warwick. The other eight set a test before interview.
Sources, all from the Clearing House: King's College London, Newcastle University, University College London, University of Leeds, University of Plymouth and University of Surrey, checked ; Short-listing tests, checked .
Do DClinPsy courses use a situational judgement test?
Three courses name one on their own pages:
- University of Exeter: Casper, “an online, open-response situational judgment test”, for the 2027/28 admissions cycle, which we read as 2028 entry. It is not a ranking test; for 2027 entry the Clearing House gives Exeter’s test as “questionnaires which are not timed”.
- University of Edinburgh: “an online Situational Judgment Task”, on an undated page we read as being for 2027 entry. Its Clearing House entry does not mention the task.
- Salomons: “The Clinical Psychology Situational Judgement Test”, under “Test arrangements for 2026”. Its 2027 tests are under review.
Eight of the 30 courses set a test before interview, three of them a reasoning test. At interview, 14 name a role-play, a written vignette, a filmed scenario, a recorded response or values-based questions. The SJT practice, ranking responses to a scenario, is closest to a filmed scenario, a recorded response or values-based questions. For a role-play or a written vignette, the interview practice has briefs to answer aloud.
- Each course’s record, quoting its page
- Each course’s interview format, checked between 24 September and 23 October 2026
- SJT practice, and how it differs from these tests
Sources: University of Exeter, its Clearing House entry and the Clearing House’s Short-listing tests, checked ; University of Edinburgh, its Clearing House entry, Salomons and its Clearing House entry, checked .
What is a situational judgement test?
It sets out a realistic workplace scenario and asks how appropriate different responses would be. Here, you rank five responses from most to least appropriate.
There is nothing to memorise. It assesses which professional principle you put first when several point in different directions, as a role-play or a values-based interview question does.
Can you revise for a situational judgement test?
Yes, but not by memorising answers. You can learn the format and the standards the rankings rest on: which principle a regulator expects to win when, say, confidentiality and safeguarding conflict.
What happens at a DClinPsy interview?
Of the 30 courses, 29 publish their interview format, and every one names a panel interview. We found nothing published about the interview at Coventry and Warwick.
The other parts named most often are a role-play with an actor or panel member (7 courses), a group task (5) and a written task (5). A course may still use a format it has not mentioned.
The practice here
How is the ranking scored here?
Scoring is proximity-based. Each response earns 4 points in exactly the right position, 3 if it is one position out, 2 for two, 1 for three and 0 for four. A scenario is worth 20 points and a ten-scenario test 200.
Courses do not publish how they mark, so this scoring is our own.
What are the clinical domains?
The eight groups the scenarios here are sorted into: Professional Boundaries, Risk Management, Ethical Dilemmas, Diversity and Inclusion, Clinical Decision-Making, Interprofessional Working, Trainee Development, and Service Delivery. The grouping is ours, not an official list.
Is there one right answer?
There is a model ranking, and each position is justified against a professional standard, national guidance or the law, but reasonable clinicians sometimes disagree about the middle positions. If you still disagree after reading the explanation and the source it cites, tell us.
How long does a test take?
A ten-scenario test takes about twenty minutes if you read the explanations. The situational judgement practice is not timed.
Account and cost
Do I need an account?
Not for the course records or the samples, which include a full ten-scenario SJT test. The pass is kept on your account. You create one before you buy, with a sign-in link we email you, then use the pass on any device.
Without an account, your results are kept in this browser only, and nothing is sent to a server.
Anyone else who uses this browser can see them, so on a shared computer remove them when you finish. Clearing your browser data deletes them too, so export your history to keep it.
What does it cost?
A pass covers all the practice. One-off payment. Access until 30 June 2027. Its price is on the pricing page. The course records, the published odds and a sample of each practice are open to everyone, with no account.